Maintaining a home is a constant battle for all families. There is always laundry to do, dishes to wash, and beds to make. While daily chores are often prioritised, bigger jobs such as cleaning the oven tend to get pushed back for as long as possible.
Although they’re time-consuming and unpleasant, these daunting jobs are usually important. Instead of avoiding them, why not get them out of the way? Of course, it’s easier said than done. So, here’s a list of some of the most dreaded household tasks, with tips on how to complete them efficiently.
Cleaning the oven
Although it was declared the least time-consuming, cleaning the oven was voted Britain’s most hated chore in a 2019 survey from Tombola. It’s tempting to leave this job until the day you move out, but it needs doing every six months. Using an unclean oven can be a fire hazard if it produces excess smoke and carbon-based fumes. Don’t ignore the burning smell or cloud of smoke that emerges when you open the oven door.
To make removing the grease and grime easier, spread a paste of baking soda and white wine vinegar over the oven’s interior and glass door to soak overnight. Then wipe it clean the following day. To prevent this from becoming a big job again, wipe it down after each use.
Replacing your boiler
Many people don’t replace their boiler until it breaks. But this can leave you with cold water and a freezing home until it gets replaced. Instead, prepare your home for winter and complete the job before you’re forced to, looking around for the best combi boiler prices before an emergency situation occurs.
If your boiler is non-condensing, it’s probably nearing the end of its lifecycle and therefore will soon need replacing with an energy-efficient condensing boiler.
BOXT make this errand as easy as possible, with their ‘find a boiler’ tool. All you have to do is answer a few simple questions about your home and it will identify the most suitable boiler. BOXT can also arrange the entire installation process.
Sorting through the ‘junk drawer’
Everybody has a ‘drawer of doom’, whether it’s in your living room, bedroom, kitchen, or spare room. It’s the drawer that stores an assortment of random objects that don’t have a dedicated home such as screws, receipts, cables, or paperclips.
Organising this mess isn’t the most urgent task but if you leave it too long, it will quickly get out of hand and you’ll no longer remember what’s in there or be able to find anything. This could be risky if you’re prone to place important documents and unread letters in there.
Instead of avoiding this drawer, face it head-on. Put aside a couple of hours one evening, play your favourite album and sort through it. If there’s anything you don’t think you’ll need, use, or want, throw it away. Organise each item into categories and place them into drawer dividers. The drawer can still store multiple items but creating a system will make it much easier to find the objects and keep the drawer tidy in the future.
Update home insurance
Finding a home insurance provider should be one of the first things you do when you move into a new property. When it’s time to renew the policy, you may decide to stay with the same company out of ease, regardless of the premium price. But dealing with this task could save you quite a bit of money.
This is a chore that often takes less time than you think. The Money Advice Service claims it only takes 40 minutes to switch providers. To try and reduce the time of the phone call, ring at an off-peak time, such as mid-afternoon. If you can’t haggle a better price, you can find a different provider and complete the policy online. If you decide to stay with the same company, inform them of any updates to your information to ensure it’s valid.
Hoover under furniture
Cleaning underneath the sofa, bed, and cabinets, is traditionally included in ‘spring cleaning’. However, the amount of dust you uncover will indicate if you need to do it more regularly. You could leave it hidden and live by the mantra ‘out of sight, out of mind’, but dust can harbour harmful bacteria, mould and yeast. It can also trigger asthma attacks and cause an allergic reaction. Conducting this chore every three-to-six months will allow you to keep on top of it.
Rather than moving the furniture each time, use an extension duster with a bendable head to drag any hair and dust from under it. Then hoover up the mess.
Nobody wants to spend their free time cleaning, especially if it’s a time-consuming job. However, these errands often spend more time on your to-do list than it takes to complete them. Knowing you’ve accomplished these tasks and your house is in order, will give you peace of mind and pride in your home.
